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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gez" data-source="post: 1281670" data-attributes="member: 1328">Soldiers are not good people.I can't remember who said that, but an officer to which someone presented an army by saying that the men were ready to die in combat replied "I don't want men ready to die, I want men ready to kill" or something like that.And, in essence, that's the crux of it. Soldiers are people that must kill others or be killed.IMC:Lawful good armies tend to have good logistics and discipline, which slows them down a bit. They don't need to use requisition too often in allied cities, and while they can plunder taken enemy cities, raping and pillaging is small in scale -- the result of a few rogue elements, that can risk court-martialed in the worst case.Chaotic good armies have lesser logistics in exchange for greater mobility. They use requisitions a lot more. Discipline is less kept and in enemy cities, war crimes are more frequent than with a lawful good army.Chaotic evil armies plunder more than they requisition. Allied cities fear the arrival of troops (except as reinforcement when the city risks to be under siege in the close future), because those are bad boys that bring troubles. Troopers behave in thugish ways when not in service, doing the usual stealing and raping or, at best, starting mere bar brawls. They have poor logistics, and even when properly approvisioned, will prefer to loot what they need in order to keep what they have. To maybe sell it later...Lawful evil armies have better logistics, but no compunction against requisitionning anything they need, the means being justified by the end. In captured cities, unless the commandment wants to keep the place (rather than destroying it for the example and to crush opposition), soldiers are let to "unwind" from discipline a bit. Tight control can't be kept at all time, otherwise you got rebellion in your own rank. That's why you need to allow period of "regulated anarchy" to act as safety valves (the original role of carnivals), and using the enemy, rather than your own cities, as the victim of this necessary measure is good planning.Among the various races:Humans rape, pillage and plunder like a bunch of medieval grunts.Bugbears are usually elite shock troops for hobgoblin centurions, but when they're on their own, they behave as expected from CE soldiers... And they deserve their name of bugbears, or the use of bugbears to mean bugaboo.Dwarves, even evil dwarves, are little on raping, are reluctant on destroying well-crafted buildings during the pillaging, but they have not such compunctions on the plundering part.Elves have three very different cultures. The barbaric elves (CN) are rather guerilla fighters. they would not attack a city, as they don't want to even enter one. Raping and pillaging in thorps and hamlets is not impossible, though. The civilized elves (CG) try to avoid war if possible, resorting to it only for defense. They would be quite liberal with requisitions, though, as their mindset is  often at odds with the concept of property. You really owns what you wear, all the rest is for whomever needs it. Finally, the decadent elves (CE) are monsters that enjoy cruelty. They rape, pillage and plunder even their own cities.Gnolls seldom gather in number large enough to be an army, but when they do, and they are successful in taking a city, they rape/plunder/pillage, then light the city on fire, and throw the survivors in the flames to "cook them" because they are now hungry.Gnomes find rape abhorrent, and don't like pillage. They may use requisition, but that's about all.Goblins are nigh as bad as the decadent elves. As they resent their physical weakness, they enjoy particularly "avenging" themselves of their relative weakness on vainquished taller foes.Halflings are like humans, but smaller. They like plundering even more, though.Hobgoblins are the typical LE army. After the troops are relieved from their stress, the survivors are taken as slaves.Ogres are, well, ogres. It's a rare occurance you get an ogre army, although they don't need to be as numerous as the smaller races, and you can expect plenty of raping, pillaging, and plundering from them. As well as eating, of course. Like bugbears, there's a reason their name is associated with a particular meaning.Orcs are, well, orcs. The only reason an orc commander may try to limit the rape/plunder/pillage/burn part is because at this time, internecine quarrels increase the casualties far more than needed.</blockquote>

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